Chapter 19

Day 89 - Wednesday, July 28, 1847

Andy woke me up sometime after midnight and said for me to get up. I dressed and got out of the wagon, then asked in a low voice, "What's up?"

"There are four men camped about a half mile to the east of here. I think one of them is the man who was bidding against you at the auction."

"What do you think they're up to?" I asked. I was scared, but I hoped it didn't show in my voice.

"I think he wants Delia and Dalia. What is he willing to do to get them? I don't know, but I think we should be prepared for the worst."

"Okay, I agree. When do you think they'll make themselves known?"

"I'd say at first light. They'll probably come into camp before they think any of us are up."

"Then, we should have a surprise waiting for them. First off, I think we should get everyone out of camp and put them somewhere safe."

"Yeah, I agree. I wonder if Jud can shoot a gun?"

"I used to do all ob da huntin fo Massa Wilson," Jud said from where he had sneaked up behind us.

"Shit, Jud, you like to have scared the crap out of me. Could you shoot a man if you had to? A white man?"

"I know what dey planning ta do ta my babies," Jud said. "I could shoot 'em."

"Good. What I think we should do is get our families to safety. I'll start a camp fire before daylight and start some coffee brewing. Jud, you and Andy need to be hiding where you're not going to be seen. Once they ride into camp, I'll try to talk to them. If they act threateningly toward me, then shoot the bastards."

Andy nodded. "That's probably the best way. If I fire a shot, Jud, start shooting the bastards. I'll have a revolver and you can take Ed's revolver."

"Remember, Jud, it's your babies you're protecting," I said.

"My babies and my friends."

Jud said he'd wake his family and get them ready to move out. Andy volunteered to wake M & M and Tommy, but I said I thought Sam should do that and that they should be the last to be awakened. He had to agree.

I went into the wagon and quietly awakened Sam and Cassie. "We have a problem. The guy who was bidding against me at the auction is camped with three other guys not far from here."

"What are we going to do?" Sam asked in a concerned, but calm voice.

"We want to get you ladies and the kids hidden in the woods. Come morning, Andy, Jud, and I will take care of them. Andy and Jud will be hidden when they come into camp. If I can talk them out of doing anything, then fine. Otherwise, Andy and Jud will take them out from ambush."

"That sounds good, except I'm going to be hidden close to the camp too. If trouble breaks out, I plan to protect my husband. I'm a pretty good shot with a rifle now, you know," Sam said.

I had been giving Sam and Cassie lessons in shooting since we had left Maine. I had wanted them to be able to provide for themselves if something happened to me. They really had gotten very good.

"I'll be there too," Cassie said. "There's no way we're going to depend on someone else to protect our husband."

My heart felt as big as Virginia. I knew there was no use arguing with them and I knew they would be relatively safe, so I let it drop. While we had been talking, the girls had gotten dressed.

"Do you have any idea where we should put the kids?" Sam asked.

"Not really. I'd say somewhere across the creek and far enough away they'll be safe if any shots are fired."

"I know just the place," Cassie said. "Delia and I were walking over there this afternoon. There's a dead fall you could hide a dozen people behind."

"Okay, Jud is waking his family up. We need to quietly wake the kids and get them moved over there. Take all of the sleeping bags and some blankets so they're nice and snug."

Sam and Cassie moved out as silently as a mountain lion stalking its prey. If I had been watching the camp from fifty yards away, I don't think I'd have even known anything was going on.

Within twenty minutes, Andy, Jud, Sam, Cassie and I were the only ones in camp. Sam took my rifle and made sure it was loaded properly. Andy loaned his rifle to Cassie. I helped the women find places where they could watch the camp, but where they wouldn't be seen. Each of them took a blanket to wrap up in.

My guess was that it was now around 2:00 AM. It was still several hours until morning. Andy, Jud and I decided we were going to try to get a couple of hours sleep each. One of us would stay on watch for an hour and then he'd wake another one. Andy said he was too keyed up to sleep, so he'd take the first watch.

I thought I might have trouble sleeping as well, but as soon as I laid down, I was out. Andy woke me up two hours later. He hadn't been able to sleep, so he stood Jud's watch too.

I got up and walked around a bit to make sure I was going to stay awake. The next hour dragged by, but finally, I woke Jud and Andy up. I started building a camp fire and got some coffee brewing, while Andy went off to make sure Sam and Cassie were awake.

I didn't want to be left completely defenseless, so I tucked the little .32 automatic in the back of my pants, under my shirt. I was sitting there, sipping on my second cup of coffee when I heard horses coming.

I waited patiently while they rode into camp. As Andy had said, there were four of them. "Good morning," I said with what I hoped passed for a smile. "Get down and have some coffee."

"We didn't come here for coffee," the fop said. "We came here for the nigger bitches."

"I told you they're not for sale," I said.

"Oh, we ain't planning on buying them. I offered to buy one of them from you, but you wouldn't take a fair offer. Now, we're just going to take both of them. If you cooperate, you can stay alive. If not, then we'll have to kill you before we take them away."

"Now, that might be just a little difficult for you to do. There are four guns aimed at you right now by people who know how to use them and who wouldn't hesitate for a second before blowing you away. If you'll just turn around and ride out of camp right now, we'll just say it was a mistake on your part and let it go at that."

"You're bluffing, you bumpkin. Bring the bitches out now."

"Bob, maybe we should listen to him," one of the other men said.

"I'm not going to listen to him, I'm going to put a bullet through him," the fop said as he reached for a revolver.

I don't know who shot first and I don't know who hit whom. All I know is that before either the fop or I could get to our guns, all four of the men were on the ground. I'm sure I heard at least six shots fired and there may have been more. None of them came from the men on the ground.

Sam and Cassie came splashing across the creek and threw their arms around me. Andy and Jud came out of the bushes more slowly, still alert to the men on the ground. Jud went over to them and pushed on each of them with the toe of his moccasin. One of the men groaned, so Jud shot him in the head. A few seconds later, Sarah Beth came running across the creek and threw her arms around Andy.

"They're all dead," Jud said as he walked away from them. "If any ob dem had been alive, we'd hab all been hanged by tomorrow."

"He's right," Andy said. "We should take anything of value that they have and bury them."

In some ways it didn't seem right to rob the dead, but they had been prepared to kill all of us, so I couldn't think It was too bad a thing. "Okay," I nodded. "Let's see what they have on them."

Three of the men had almost fifty dollars between them. The fop had over five hundred in gold coins in his saddlebags. All of them had revolvers. Andy said there was a ravine off to our right, so we dragged the bodies there. Only the fop had anything on him that told who he was. He had a bill of sale for one of the black men at the auction made out to Robert Pierpont Wadsworth.

We stripped them and tumbled them into the ravine, then caved the bank in on them.

After a few weeks, no one in this age would be able to identify the bodies even if they washed out. We figured we'd burn pieces of their clothing at each camp we made. We kept their horses and saddles. I know that was a risk, but we just couldn't see throwing away a couple of hundred dollars worth of horses.

Mina made breakfast and after we had eaten, we loaded the wagon and tied the new horses on behind it with lead ropes. We started out almost due west. I thought I remembered from the history courses I had taken that they were always looking for runaway slaves throughout the south. I was afraid that if we headed back north right away, we'd at least be stopped.

I also thought that Kentucky was part slave and part free. Our cover story was going to be that we were going to Kentucky to buy horses for our ranch in North Carolina.

Jud had driven wagons all of his life, so he took over driving our wagon. Mina rode beside him on the box and Delia and Dalia rode inside. We were going across country, but I wanted to get on a road as soon as we could. I knew we were going to be going through some mountainous country, so I figured it would be easier traveling if we went by road.

We had actually come about fifteen miles before we ran into what would later become US-60. I thought that would be a good way to go. Since it was late afternoon and we were all tired from lack of sleep last night, we decided to camp early. We went about a quarter of a mile off the road and found a nice place to camp.

Andy said we should hobble all of the horses and mules, so we did. Except for Hawk. He still thinks he's a puppy and hangs around our camp, even if there's much better grass elsewhere.

I noticed Delia and Dalia were walking very stiffly after they had gotten out of the wagon, so I asked Delia about it.

"It's riding in that wagon that's got us all stoved up. It was a lot easier on Dalia and me when we were riding behind you guys."

"Would you like to ride horses of your own tomorrow?" I asked.

Both of them thought that would be great.

I asked Jud and Mina after dinner if riding on the wagon had been okay for them and both of them said it had been. It turns out that the wagon doesn't have any springs, but the seat in the wagon box does. I could see why it had been a much more comfortable ride for Jud and Mina.

We were all so tired we turned in long before it was dark. When Sam, Cassie and I had cuddled up, Sam said, "We need to talk about M & M and Tommy. I was very surprised and a little shocked with what I saw when I went in to wake them up last night."

"What was that?" I asked.

"All three of them were lying in bed, naked. Tommy was in the middle. He had a hell of a hardon for a kid his age and Mindy had her hand wrapped around it, like it belonged to her."

I had to laugh and Cassie started giggling. "So, the little shits have discovered sex at an early age. Do you think they've done anything besides show, touch, and feel?"

"I doubt it," Sam said hesitantly. "I'm not sure a boy Tommy's age can even do it."

"If he can get a hardon, he can do it. The question is, can the girls do it. Their vaginas have to be tiny at this age."

"Yeah, but I remember girls I went to school with talking about sticking a large crayon inside themselves when I was that age," Cassie said. "Tommy's penis can't be much bigger around than a large crayon."

For some reason this got us all giggling. After we calmed down, Sam said, "I think I'll have a talk with them. I don't want to make them afraid of sex, but I do want them to be responsible. I want them to know to wait until they know they are ready before they do anything."

"I think that's a good idea, honey. Let them know that you and Cassie were both virgins until you got with me."

"Yeah, you old devirginator, you," Cassie giggled.

Of course, I had to tickle her and that led to kisses and caresses, which led to gentle love making. I was pleased to see Sam making love to Cassie's beautiful breasts as Cassie and I were making love.

Day 90 - Thursday, July 29, 1847

We got a good, early start this morning and were on the road by 7:00 AM. We weren't trying to go fast, just steady. We got Delia and Dalia mounted on two of the horses we had acquired from the men who had attacked our camp. They seemed much better satisfied.